Dear Great Granny Bruce

Oh Great Granny Bruce! What I would give to be able to sit and talk with you today ; to get your thoughts on the situation we all find ourselves in – and take some good old, home truths from you about what is terrible – and what requires patience.

I’d love to have known you as the adult I am now, with the incredible lady I know you were. One of the many comforts in my heart, is that I was your, ”Baby Lynn” and, from all of the stories my Nanna and Mum have told me, I was the apple of your eye, mainly, I suspect because I was born the generation after the end of World War 2, to your beloved grandson, Bill, who’d been born at the start of the war – and who you cherished and protected, with his Mum, my Nanna, through the turbulent, unthinkable years. Of course, babies represent hope too – and there is always hope.

So we are in battle with a virus, which is attacking, unforeseen and without care, it would seem. It’s a terrible and scary thing – but when balanced against the terror of man deliberating and overtly killing each other as they did in your young days, I’m grateful to live in today. That you and your generation were stoic, is beyond belief – but you were and pulled together through days of fear and hunger, huge losses and pain – and we need your influence and guidance like never before.

I believe man is fundamentally good. Life gets in the way and fears come through but at the heart of us all, there is a spark of goodness and love. In the same way that you and those like you, kept love not only alive but thriving, we seek to do that now.

From the stories I”ve heard, you all stuck together, learning to share , to cherish – and to dance and sing. I pray for strength for us now, that we can start to , ”’sing out loud”, as some already are around the world. That we can reach out and hold onto one another: not physically , in this ”social distancing” world but with thought, love and hope. That we can learn to listen and understand what the other needs, not focus on ourselves and our lack of anything. We’ve potentially brought this all upon ourselves anyway.

I also pray with all my being, that we can find a way to love and care for those of your generation and my Nanna’s. Those whose lives have already been blighted enough with troubles, fear and losses – and whose frail bodies now are the most at risk from this virus. May we find a way to be kind to them if their time has come and to help them leave this troubled world with dignity and grace.

Dear Great Granny Bruce: mostly I’d like to talk to you to tell you how eternally grateful I am to you and all of those who walked alongside you, for caring enough for us, at whatever the cost to you and keeping us safe. May that be the lesson we each learn today.

Thank you x